SHINee's Still Got It

Since their debut, there has been sufficient reason to believe that SHINee was SM’s resident darling group. Within the first few years of their existence, all the signs pointed towards SM’s dotage towards SHINee. SHINee got a killer debut song, awesome visual concepts, product endorsements left and right, variety appearances every other day of the week — anything and everything to keep SHINee in the limelight. Of course, this level of high-profile exposure wasn’t without merit. Even from their debut performance, SHINee proved themselves to be excellent performers with lots of talent and stage charisma. The sheer quality of SHINee’s debut marked SHINee as being one of the best rookie groups of their time — a title that retained its worth throughout much of SHINee’s career.

But there was something somewhat lackluster about SHINee during their Lucifer promotions. Granted, “Lucifer” wasn’t the greatest song to come out of SHINee, and promoting it three times a week obviously took a big physical toll on the group. But all of a sudden SHINee’s live performances became less than perfect, their stage charisma seemed recycled, and they just weren’t the same precise, pleasantly-robotic group that they were at the time of their debut. The news of SHINee’s venture into Japan was, frankly, a piece of news that I could’ve done without at the time. If it had been late 2008/early 2009 when SHINee was arguably at their prime, there would’ve been no reservations. But the image of Jonghyun cracking every high note while performing in front of a highly critical Japanese audience was not a pleasant one. At the end of 2010, SHINee was not in a good place in terms of overall performance quality, and it was difficult to find reasons to continue keeping up with them.

So in terms of logic, the full-length concert SHINee held at the end of 2010 shouldn’t have been all that impressive. And indeed, the fact that the concert has been drawn out over the past year and performed in a bajillion different venues has definitely added to its staleness. But when the concert album, The First Concert SHINee World, came out last week, I unexpectedly found myself falling in love with the group all over again.

The thing about concert albums is that while the songs may be no different from their studio-recorded counterparts on previous albums, the live recordings embody a degree of liveliness and vigor that is oftentimes lost in the midst of editing and mixing and endless takes. While it’s safe to assume that concert recordings do undergo a certain degree of audio editing, the fact still stands that the group only has two concerts to get it right, two shots to put out an aurally perfect and emotionally memorable performance that will be immortalized on an audio CD for years to come.

In many ways, listening to SHINee’s concert album was like seeing the old SHINee finally come back, and then some. Their vocal performances were pretty much spot-on throughout the whole concert, with nary a sung note out of place. But more importantly, their performances just had so much life and vigor, to the point where that energy was noticeable even through an audio recording. Songs like “Ready or Not,” “A-Yo,” and “Get Down” showed off SHINee’s youthfulness and energy in ways that even older groups might have a hard time replicating. And ballads like “Graze,” and “Romantic” have been around for years, but rather than parroting back the studio recording, SHINee performed it as if the song was made to be sung in that venue, embedding the song within the entire concert experience.

I saw SHINee’s concert in Taipei last July, and while that was a great experience in itself, I’ve come to discover that nothing really beats out the experience of hearing SHINee’s voices in absolute clarity and being able to take in every bit of their stage energy and passion simply by listening to their voices. It’s not to say that SHINee are the demigods of K-pop simply from this one concert recording. But rather, this concert album was a restoration of faith for me as a SHINee fan — not in the sense that their rumored Korean comeback later this year will herald the permanent return of the “old SHINee” from years past, but rather in the affirmation that SHINee is still the same group of five boys who are ridiculously good at what they do, but still have the energy and lightheartedness to have fun on stage and live in the experience. It was an experience where one could hear the carefree, youthfulness of the group whilst also taking note of the ways in which the group was maturing: solid harmonies, vocal embellishments, even the sound of Taemin and Minho taking over lines previously held by their older, more experienced members, showing that they were now ready to carry those lines themselves. The SHINee World Concert was a special occasion for SHINee, and it was clear that SHINee made that stage their own. One is hardpressed to find a group with that high a level of expertise and carefreeness in performing, which is what makes SHINee such a gem.

It’s both a curse and a blessing that SHINee debuted at such a young age, and after watching and listening to SHINee perform, it’s clear that that youthful energy composes a certain X-factor in live performances; something that even the most skilled veteran groups can’t replicate. Youth is a wonderful thing, and is something that certainly should not be wasted but oftentimes becomes a casualty to the premature onset of adult life. But even as full-time entertainers who have long sacrificed their childhood and who now eat, live, and breathe their career, SHINee should not have to sacrifice their youthfulness — particularly if it is that youthfulness that allows SHINee to shine the brightest on stage. It’s such a shame to see SHINee being jetted around from country to country, schedule to schedule, and all the while wasting away the youth that makes their current career so special. There will come a day when SHINee’s youthfulness will fade away, and it will be sad to see it go without even leaving a trace on the career that has consumed it.

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This makes me happy to read :D I’ve been losing faith in their material as well (the rumors of Teddy Riley making their next song aren’t helping things) but as a group, the boys themselves are talented and very likeable. If they could again get songs that show their natural appeal like in their debut days, SHINee just may work themselves back up to the #1 spot on my favorite idols list.

JesStal

This article made me smile and miss the boys all the more :) Watching them on music shows is one thing, but at the concert I was honestly blown away. Each of the boys have their own talent and with each album/song, you hear and see the growth from each member, which makes them so special. All I’m hoping for right now is that Teddy Riley doesn’t butcher their songs. I’d love it if they came out with sounds similar to their first album.

Little Panda

I disagree with the Lucifer comment, personally I think that’s one of their best songs. It’s the perfect kpop song.

Aurora2687

Funny enough Lucifer is were they gained a lot of their international fans, including me, loved all the songs in the album and watching their live performances every week. Then Hello was released and I was so disappointed, to me it seemed like a regression – here they were complemented for being ‘CD dolls’, good vocals through a difficult song and choreography and than they went to being just sweet again. You can tell their management is having trouble finding musical direction for SHINee, their coming into their 4th year and this is a very important time for them as a group and it worries me whether SM will get it right for them.

Personally for their next album I’d love a balance of song’s like their latest stuff Electric Heart, Obsession,Quasimodo and their older songs Graze, Romantic, Last Gift etc. And I’m still waiting to see them live, if I have the chance.

kc

this is slightly off topic (well, not really, it’s still about Shinee and their growth) but did you see Taemin’s performance on IS2, I’ve been dying to hear what the Seoulbeaters thought about it^^

I’m hoping when they do go back to Korea that they come back… not really with a bang, I’m quite tired of SM banging us (I need to choose my words better…) I want something that shows off their voices, shows off that they aren’t children but men with class and talent… and while I like concepts like Lucifer and Hello I think I’d like it even better if they took a break from “concepts” and their outfits and focus a bit more on their music…

I’m really hoping Shinee can come back with something that’s respectable, maybe if they do then SM will have some hope after all (this goes for all of it’s artists, I wanna see better effort directed towards all of SM’s artists, they deserve better^^)

Anonymous

Couldn’t agree more with the article. I felt all giddy and warm inside as I scrolled down and read section by section. With so many other things going on in the Kpop scene I kind of forgot them, but now I really miss them.

I hope and pray their comeback will be good!

Anonymous

:’) A bit mellow here, haha. Their first album was so perfect that I was so disappointed to see what their next albums were. Sure, Lucifer served us a different side of SHINee (a made-up image, of course), but their stage performance seemed going down hill after that.

But watching that concert DVD was really like a dejavu. I hope their comeback will be a blast.

Musik 사랑해

I LOOVE SHINEE and I AM IN LOVE WITH, MADLY IN LOVE WITH TAEMIN MORE THAN ANY FANGIRL! but all that aside I love your article and I agree about their youthful years wasting away. But Lucifer is what got me into SHINee and I agree it’s not their best, i prefer their slow stuff. But I don’t like that SM is running them ragged (poor Onew I hope his ankle heals soon) but since your career is shorter in Korea I guess they have no choice. Oh SHINee how I love you!

maldita

SHINee is the first group I’ve followed their whole career. I was a DBSK fan during their “Rising Sun” days and kinda got disinterested with K-pop for a couple of years when I started college. Then I suddenly chanced about a teaser for SM’s new boyband. Then I heard the first few beats of “Replay” and I was hooked. SHINee seriously had everything going for them during their first couple of years. 2010, however, was a rough year for them. “Lucifer” was awesome, really, the closest thing they have to an SMP song, yet promoting that song along with all their other variety show appearances and other gigs just so obviously took a toll on them.

Hopefully their time away from the Korean music scene has given them some sort of renewed vigor in their new comeback. And I do hope they kind of go back to their old RnB-influenced sound. They sound the best with the kind of songs they had in their 1st album. :)

Replay still my fave Shinee’s song… wish they could create something similar for their comeback… i miss the old Shinee too!

HiraHyun

i never regret being a faithful shawol since i first been into Kpop honestly. Reading this made me somewhat sad & afraid of losing them. I cant imagine how i’m going to survive without their music. Someday, when SHINee is not there anymore, I think that’s it. The end of me being into Kpop. For me, SHINee is the one that brought me into Kpop & they are a group which i really into. Their talents are the first that attract me to them, appeal comes much later.
I miss them terribly & it got me pretty bad. I wish them to comeback soon(pray for Onew recovery) & i feel that any music from SHINee would be good, so I’m not worried. They’re not called contemporary band for no reason. I believe they’re bringing different music styles every time they comeback, just to show their different sides, the different colours, it’s what contemporary means. They also said plenty of time, they got so much more to show to fans what they’ve got & I’m here as a fan of them supporting them all the way. :)

Guest

Pretty much the only SM group I can actually stan.

thekors

I know SHINee has a huge following and an equally big group of fanatics, which may have also contributed to the rise of antis. But anyway, I still feel they are underappreciated musically no thanks to the industry’s obsession with “title track”. I mean, from their debut album to their last one, they have so many good songs in those albums that were just ignored because all attention went to their title tracks, which tend to be the generic kind (who’s to blame? SM?). So those who would really appreciate their songs are those who bother to listen the album (not many ppl do, I know, esp in view of the sheer number of releases in Korea) or go to their concerts (even diehards struggle to get tickets, let alone the rest).

L.Chibi

At first, before I got more in Kpop, my friend showed me Lucifer and I admitted that it was catchy, but I didn’t give SHINee a second thought.but starting from last year (surprisingly hearing Juliette the japanese version knocked some sense in my brain)…I started to pay attention to them more. I quickly grew attached to all their title tracks and wondered wtf I was thinking to neglect them before and soon, they rose in the top 3 of favorite kpop groups. I find it funny though, that I believe they are the first group I am really attached to…possible the most attached to of all the groups I follow. I’ve listened to SUJU and SNSD albums, but for some reason the songs that are produced for their albums just did not stick at all (it’s usually the title songs that I listen to the most out of them). However for SHINee, I felt each album was produced with lots of thought, quality and effort, which is why i adore all and each song is rarely forgettable to me. I do agree that lately their performances have been a bit sluggish. I miss their efforts and although I know they’re filled with busy schedules, when their performances are sluggish, their fans feels sluggish as well. I find myself watching old performances and hoping once SHINee comes back, ill be able to fill the energy and intensity they had when they first debuted on stage again.

Anonymous

i got teary just reading this article :’D this made me miss them so much ;_; for me, in their Lucifer era, they gained a lot of fans… they upgraded esp on their dancing,, and the vocals r superb, they r called the CD Idols and i think so too, they sing like the recording and one of the best live vocal performers if not the best ^^ but i really think ur right about wat u said.. as Jjong hve said before, because of their busy schedules, (day by day, country to country, even promoting Lucifer, varieties etc.) their vocals r kinda not improving.. their performances r goin downhill too :( SM is overworking them too much D’: just seeing dark circles under their eyes, tired n sleepy..i feel really sad T.T yes, i like their ballads more than anything..n R&B too.. they’re a contemporary group n their sticking to it and i’m not complaining :) songs from SHINee r the best (for me).. i don’t know wat will i do if SHINee isn’t here..y’know. i think dats it for me too in Kpop.they’re the only group that i like and love so much.. i’m scared too when they grow older and i know dat their youthfulness will fade away someday… i just want them to always have fun watever they do..and their bond will become stronger as 5.. i hope their comeback will be epic and strong watever the genre is, n watever it is, im sure it won’t disappoint me cos its SHINee we’re talking about here, i just hope that SM will treasure these guys,dey better showcase SHINee’s strengths eg.vocals/voices/harmonies.. they hve diff. awesome voices, n they harmonize amazingly~~ *-* they’re a really talented group, u’ll never see wid other groups now >:) ~ I’am a SHawol and i’m sticking wid them, always supporting..i’m proud and im not regretting anything ;) Fighting!!! SHINee STILL GOT IT!! HELL YEAH!! <3 :'D

SHINee is the BEST, and always will be for me. I just wish they had more time with their youth but then again its one of the reasons they are successful and have the energy.

danipisces

i totally love reading your article.. i kinda feel the same way when you mentioned about them losing the energy or the shine or the spark when they promoted Lucifer esp that they got to repeat the song for over a year now.. honestly, i dont feel their energy anymore.. i also totally agree with you about their concert.. i dont have the copy of the concert album, i just stream them.. but even just that, i really love the feeling that while watching the concert, listening to their live voices and very smooth harmonies, it always reminds me of why i love SHINee in the first place. gosshhh, the feeling is just so overwhelming, i even cry of how great they are esp in their ballads.. and i hope that i would be able to share this feeling to other music lovers out there.. but generally, i love their songs and for me, it’s real music.. im really looking forward to their comeback.. hope SM would be able to choose the right song for them coz it’s gonna be the crucial point of their career, i think.. i see SHINee not as idols but as true artists w/ undeniably great teamwork… SHINee, Fighting!! forever a Shawol here.. <3<3<3

♥tiffany♥ N

SHINee is the best of the best! They’re alls my love ♥ saranghae SHINee oppas

Shinee is musically, SM’s best group at the moment. Their voices really are that good live (I went to their showcase in London and Onew & Jonghyun blew me away). We can only hope that SM put in effort to find quality music for their new album ESPECIALLY since they haven’t released anything in Korea for a long time. (the music from SuJu and SNSD’s albums last year felt quite lazy and lacking substance for my taste)

I agree that their first album was their best one to date. Hopefully they come up with something to build on that sort of sound rather than going with the more autotune type of music.

Sadly, they won’t comeback til EXO have debuted and at the rate they’re releasing their teasers, who knows when that will be?

Lluvia

Oh god, I could write a whole monograph when it comes to writing about SHINee. I’m very much aware they’re not the best idol boy band, but guess what? They’re to my eyes and ears. I just wish them the very best, I want them to release great music, music they’re comfortable with, something they can feel proud of. I want them to find success, being it through music, or whatever they feel success is for them.

looool the last line made me laugh so much, why so dramatic?
I think I’m probably one of the few people that doesn’t adore them considering all the comments below, I have nothing against them but I’ve only ever really loved ‘Replay’ and ‘Hello’, those two songs are awesome but past that I just kinda get annoyed by the songs they put out =/

they tried out a new type of song with lucifer. also their lucifer album basically spells out shinee to me. also of course they are tired going to different countries all the time ,so their spark diterriated a bit but they won’t be youthful for ever and are obviously growing …so you gain things and loose things.

i think after this year sm will give shinee a break . that why their is the so called 5 yr curse coz bands get tired , but people have faith in shinee.coz sm saw what happened with their other groups. if they dont sm are DEFINITELY evil coz shinee are after all only human beings.

i feel you.

kyotokki

Sure. I thought Replay and Hello were just great. But i don’t adore their First Album so much. For me, Lucifer was their best album to date. I know their perfs lately have been a bit down and sluggish, and lack of energy; and it did tire me. Simply because they just keep performing RDD and Lucifer non-stop, due to the fact that they haven’t make a comeback for more than 1 year.
Personally, i do not wish that SHINee will comeback with their old concept. It grows up, so do them. I don’t want to see old SHINee, i want to see new and grown up SHINee, bringing their fans fresh, and exploding performance, SHINee as who they really are.

The first song I listened to was Ring Ding Dong and I only listened to it a few times I had listened to replay and juliet but they didnt grab my attention it was around last year that I ran across “Lucifer” and I immediatly fell in love with the song. the beat was amazing and the dance moves so hypnotic from then on I became a huge fan. I downloaded almost all their songs and even bought their japanese album because I really wanted to support the. Shinee still contains that innocence and charisma that literally lures me in, I can watch and listen to them for hours, they can make me laugh or cry I go on an emotional roller coaster ride when it comes to them. Shinee has talent and they are getting better as they get older, Taemin is one that is starting to prove himself to me with immortal song….his singing abilities are improving. I think SM should let go of the robotic autotune because even though it can sound amazing song that inhance their vocals are better. When I listened to their japanese album it hit me that Shinee CAN sing.
I dont know what to expect from their comeback but whether its bad or not I will still support them until the end.

Jahnavi Sakhamuri

SHINee Fighting! I really hope SHINee has a comeback this year! It would be amazing

FlaminMinho

I agree, their Japanese concert was great. Performance was exceptional. They really work well together as a team. Don’t know why, but they do. The riding high on trapeze swings for Lucifer I didn’t like. The part where they were all crying in the rain was ridiculous. The angel outfits were stupid – whose idea was that? Some of their clothes were odd choices. I got to see more of Minho than usual on screen so that was good. The songs I liked – Shinee World intro, Graze, Ring Ding Dong, Romantic, Amigo (don’t normally like this song but the performance was energetic so ..) and Juliette. Juliette, Graze and Ring Ding Dong are my favorite SHINee songs. Very professional stage set with nice movie backdrop. Where they are introduced the first time in the movie like they’re aliens was nice and impressive. I am sure the Japanese fans thought the money they shelled out – I don’t know – $100?- was worth it.